Within an Electric Power Steering system (EPS), various mechanical components interact to apply turning forces on the turning wheels of a vehicle. In particular, the rack and pinion steering gear of an EPS includes one or more of an inner tie rod ball joint housing attached within a steering gear rack bar. The two are attached by a fastener extending from the inner tie rod ball joint housing. The fastener is, initially, completely secured within the steering gear rack bar via a threaded interface. Over the course of time, and responsive to vehicle operation and turning, the fastener may at least partially disengage from its secured position. The disengagement may be measured as overtravel. At some threshold of disengagement, the security of the attachment of the inner tie rod ball joint housing to the steering gear rack bar may be compromised.
Accordingly, systems and related operating methods for monitoring overtravel in the rack and pinion steering gear of an EPS are desirable. The desirable systems and methods provide, responsive to the monitoring, (i) a caution flag for use on the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus of the vehicle, and (ii) an urgent flag for use on the CAN bus. The caution flag and urgent flag may be generated responsive to comparing a detected amount of disengagement or overtravel to one or more configurable predetermined thresholds. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present disclosure will be apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.